Lawrence Alloway was a British born art critic active in the New York art scene from 1960 until his death in 1990. An early champion of post-war American art, he coined the term "Pop Art." The archive consists of correspondence with his wife, the artist Sylvia Sleigh, work files, manuscripts and clippings, personal documents, and many photographs and slides of contemporary art.

Lawrence Alloway, born in England in 1926 and largely self-educated, became a major 20th century critic of American art, known for his pluralism and inclusiveness. As a young man he was associated with the Independent Group in England, a circle of artists, critics and writers that included Reyner Banham, and that questioned conventional distinctions between high and low art. As a director of the Institute of Contemporary Art in London from 1954 to 1959, he introduced American Abstract Expressionism to post-war England. In 1961 Alloway settled in New York and remained there for the rest of his life, teaching at Bennington College (1961-1962) and SUNY Stony Brook (1968-1981), curating at the Guggenheim Museum(1962-1966), and always simultaneously working as an art critic, which he considered his true vocation.

47.58 Linear Feet(81 boxes, 5 flat file folders)

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